Jonathan Johnson's Mercato Magazine - Jose Mourinho to PSG, Wilfried Zaha's Ligue 1 interest, and former Arsenal star to return to England?

Our man in France takes a look at the latest goings-on at PSG, Marseille, and more.

Could Jose Mourinho really be in contention for the PSG job?

There have been reports on that Jose Mourinho is a contender for the PSG job, and while it can’t be ruled out entirely, I can’t imagine he’s one of the club’s leading candidates at the moment.

PSG could be changing their strategy this summer towards a model built around younger players and particularly French talent, but it’s important to be clear that they haven’t actioned this yet. It’s an idea that the club is increasingly open towards and that the fans would be on board with equally, there is also a debate to be had about whether PSG changing direction like that would be able to meet the demands and expectations of the club, particularly with regards to making a more serious challenge for the Champions League. There is the feeling that, really, what PSG are missing is that professional, winning culture, that would help them as they try to model themselves on some of the more successful institutions of European football. My feeling is that PSG have missed the boat a bit because of the culture they’ve built up in the last ten years.

Still, it could be that trying root through the drama and issues in this squad, someone as aggressive and as straight-talking as Mourinho wouldn’t be the worst pick for PSG. The issue, in my opinion, is whether or not even a strong character like Mourinho would be capable of keeping a lid on this PSG squad, keeping them focused, and taking out a lot of the elements that seem to lead to the implosions that plague them every year. Is Mourinho more the sort of candidate they should have gone for about ten years ago, around the time they had Carlo Ancelotti?

The reason Mourinho has never previously been a strong candidate for them, as I understand it, is because of a sort of historic lack of interest, for want of a better word - Mourinho has never seemed interested in coming to France or to PSG, I don’t know if that’s a specific issue with the project, or a preference for the leagues in England and Italy, or just because he’s perhaps preparing the ground for PSG at some point, if they really want him, to make a massive offer and a massive effort for him.